Six months later

"How many more hours until you're ready?"

Roy was about to ignore Ed's comment, but he automatically shot him a look, so naturally he also had to say, "I am ready. Are you saying I don't look ready?"

Ed very obviously paused. "Not at all. You look perfectly ready. Can we go to the car now?"

Roy narrowed his eyes at him, once again fiddling with his button up.

"Do I have to fucking say please, is that it?"

Roy rolled his eyes and finally moved away from the mirror. "Let's go, the driver's waiting."

"Yeah, for you, I've been telling you that for—"

"Shouldn't keep the team waiting either," he added flippantly. "They've all missed you."

Ed huffed behind him as they went down the stairs. "Not my fault I'm busy with work! I visit the office when I can and they know that, so don't you start making me feel guilty you bastard—"

"I'm not, I'm simply preparing you for the sobfest that will be Havoc and Breda."

Ed laughed at that, and Roy savoured the sound. It made him smile.

Until he remembered what this dinner was for, and his gut twisted with anticipation anxiety.

His team thought they were meeting for a very casual reason—as though Roy simply wanted to treat them to a meal and invite Ed along for the ride, since he hadn't visited the office in around three months. His team thought this was his way of bribing Ed into seeing them—by offering him free food.

But what was really going to happen was him and Ed tentatively explaining the current status of their relationship to them.

Which was why Roy had booked them a very private table at a very private restaurant; they would pretty much have a room to themselves.

He was discreetly taking deep breaths as they entered the cab, the driver pulling away from the kerb almost immediately; they were already ten minutes late.

"Hey," Ed said, scooting closer until their thighs touched. The privacy screen between them and the driver and Ed's familiar warmth had Roy relaxing, just a bit. "Everything will go fine."

Realistically, Roy knew this. He knew his team were unlikely to make a public fuss, even if they disagreed with the news. And he had Hawkeye at his side anyway; Riza had been informed prior to the meal about its true purpose. So Roy was sure she'd bring her best gun.

But that didn't mean that his body listened to his logic. He was still apprehensive because, even with Riza and the public setting to protect him from any potential nasty reactions, even if they decided to pretend they approved and were happy for them, Roy would be hyper alert of any facial expressions. And he knew for a fact most people were shit at hiding their true feelings from their faces.

He was doing this for Ed, he reminded himself. At the end of the day, even if Roy wanted to hide from the world, Ed wanted to do this.

Just the team, he'd said, head on Roy's chest, the day Roy had crawled back to him like a lost puppy and told him to come home. I think they deserve to know.

And so they'd come to a compromise; they'd tell the team about them, but only after six months. Roy had thought that would be a sufficient amount of time for him to get to grips with things and mentally prepare himself.

And it had been six months. Since that day.

Time flew, and Roy didn't feel any more ready than he had six months ago.

He took a deep breath and looked at Ed, his hand grasping his warm one. "I know, I just worry anyway."

Their arrival to the restaurant wasn't a quiet one. The staff rushed to greet him and Ed and quickly escorted them to the private table, where the rest of team was already seated.

The loud chatter quieted the moment he and Ed were spotted, and then Havoc and Breda were hooting loudly and standing in order to properly harass Ed.

"Boss! Where've you been! You left us! With no explanation!" Havoc cried, enveloping Ed in an aggressive hug that rivalled Armstrong.

Ed grunted, squirming to be released from Havoc's clutches. As soon as he was free, he laughed awkwardly, rubbing at his nape. "Yeah…sorry. Been busy and all."

Ed's retirement had been a rather shocking event for the team, mostly because it had seemed very out of nowhere. Breda had joked the soul bond had been the final straw for Ed and he didn't want to be around them anymore, but it was obvious to Roy morale had dropped for a few weeks after.

They all missed Ed, so Roy had been privately hounding him to make frequent appearances at the office. He'd even told the guards at Headquarters to let Ed in whenever he wished.

But Ed had only visited once, and then had been sucked into his overworking tendencies.

Roy, of course, saw him at home, but the rest of the team had no idea what had become of him, and Roy couldn't exactly fill them in.

Today, he was about to do just that.

He took a discreet deep breath as they sat in the remaining seats. Ed was next to him, and he wasn't sure if that was better for the news they were about to hit the team with or not. Hawkeye was at his right, as always, and he briefly wondered if she'd arranged the seating positions.

It wasn't lost on Roy that no one had asked why they had turned up together. Sure, Roy could've made a point to go pick Ed up to make sure he turned up. Or Ed was simply on the way, and they decided to save money by sharing a cab. But his mind was mulling every little thing over as he ordered a glass of wine and opened the menu.

It was in these moments that he cherished his two loudest subordinates, because Havoc and Breda were currently occupied with grilling Ed on his recent life change, and all Ed could do was answer to his best ability, while omitting some very important bits.

Like the fact that he now lived with Roy, and that, in fact, Roy had known every little thing Ed was currently telling the team, and had never said a word.

Damn, when he put it like that…He understood why Ed wanted them to be open with the team.

He trusted his team with everything else, so why not with something personal?

"Yeah, I teach alchemy to fucking kids now, can you believe it?"

Havoc barked a laugh, and it was almost loud enough to overpower Breda's snort.

"Oh, that's amazing!" Fuery said, grinning at Ed. "I bet you make an excellent teacher."

Ed's cheeks flushed a sweet pink at the compliment. "Eh, I don't know. I'm probably not the best cause I can't actually demonstrate the alchemy, you know?"

Falman shook his head, leaning closer to Ed and saying, "A good teacher isn't defined by who has the flashiest skillset, it's all dependant on how you explain things and interact with the kids, and I know for a fact that you are incredible at explaining things to mere mortals like us."

Ed flushed further. "Thanks."

"So is that why you haven't turned up in months?" Havoc asked. "You've been entertaining little kids?"

Ed glared at him. "Well, yes, they're actually getting kinda good now so their parents want more hours. Good for my wallet, I guess."

"But not good for us," Havoc lamented.

Ed rolled his eyes.

"I am glad that you've chosen a much less life-threatening job, though, boss," Breda said, smirking.

Ed pulled a face. "Fuck the homunculi, those kids are gonna kill me for real, you have no idea. They're insane."

The waiter interrupted the conversation to take their orders, but Roy was distracted. He had, after all, come here with a purpose. And now he was wondering how to best approach the subject…

Did he do it now, at the start of the meal? Or was it better to wait until the end, just in case the reaction wasn't…favourable?

But no, because even if the reaction was negative, he would still have to see them everyday and work to repair any potential rupture in their relationship. So better to get it out the way, and use this meal to answer any…questions.

He tried to get Ed's attention, to somehow communicate through simply looking at each other, but Ed wasn't looking at him.

So Roy waited until the food came. And then watched as Ed inhaled his pie with a growing sense of anxiety.

So he, discreetly, elbowed him in the ribs.

Ed jumped a mile and whipped his head to finally look at him. "The fuck?"

Roy looked at him pointedly. Ed stared back, confused and angry.

Roy stared harder.

Ed blinked, and then the anger was gone, replaced by a sheepish understanding. "Oh, right…" He shuffled in his seat, suddenly apprehensive. "So…now?" he whispered to Roy.

"I suppose so," Roy mumbled back.

"What're you two whispering about over there?" Havoc loudly asked, and Roy cleared his throat. It was now or never.

"We have something to announce," Roy started, sounding way more confident about this than he actually was. But he was really having a small meltdown, so he looked at Ed expectantly.

Ed looked at him like a deer in headlights. He dropped his fork on his plate and stammered, "Uh, yeah. Right. So, uh, we…We're…"

Dear God, did he have to do everything? "Fullmetal and I are dating."

There. Plaster and all that.

Silence.

Before Roy had a moment for the panic to truly sink in, Ed leaned closer and elbowed him in the ribs. Seemed pretty vengeful, to be honest. Then he hissed, "What's the point in calling me Fullmetal, you fucking idiot."

Oh. Right. Old habits.

Roy ignored his shaky hands as he folded them and tried for a diplomatic smile. "I understand you may have questions."

Breda was the first one to move out of his state of shock. He placed his elbows on the table around his plate, his face sombre as he very seriously said, "So…does that mean Ed never moved out after the soul bond was broken?"

And Roy…had not been expecting that as the first question. But perhaps he had been right, and they'd be offended he hadn't told them news about Ed when they'd been sat wondering if he was even alive.

"Well," Roy started. His first instinct was to slightly bullshit it, but he stopped himself. He'd promised Ed he'd be open and honest with them. "Yes."

Breda grinned, and Havoc groaned so loudly Roy worried staff would come rushing in. Falman and Fuery were still looking at them in surprise, until Fuery looked over at Breda and said, "Oh my god, I can't believe it!"

Breda leaned back in his chair and threw his head back as he cackled loudly.

Roy was definitely missing something here. None of these reactions had been anything like what he'd been anticipating.

He avoided looking at Hawkeye next to him, but he did glance at Ed. It was comforting that Ed at least seemed just as confused as Roy was.

But then it all made sense, because Breda extended one hand to Havoc and one hand to Fuery, and they handed over a load of coins.

Roy tried to keep his cool. He wasn't sure exactly what he was feeling right now. A mix of incredulity, relief and annoyance perhaps. "Explain yourselves."

"Well," Breda started. He looked so insanely smug Roy debated giving him extra paperwork on Monday. "When the soul bond ended I thought…there's no way you two would just go back to semi-hating each other, right? Three months of living together…That's a lot, right? So I bet that you two would've gotten so used to each other you'd actually just keep living together after the bond. And the rest would just come naturally—"

"While I," Havoc butted in, "bet that there was no chance in hell you two would choose to live together for any longer than necessary, and the Chief is like the women's man so there was no way—"

"And I," Fuery said, "thought the most logical thing was for the three months to have brought you closer, so I bet you'd definitely visit each other more often and have a more personal relationship—"

"But I," Breda exclaimed, "Was right! God, I didn't think we'd ever find out! We'd been trying to suss you out for ages."

Roy stared at them, his face a carefully blank canvas.

This fucking team.

He couldn't even fathom that this stupid bet had been in the works for six months. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn't believe he'd even worried about these idiots ostracising him—

"I feel the need to add that I did not participate in this bet," Falman added.

"Good thinking, Falman," Roy said, just as Breda screeched at being faced with the barrel of Riza Hawkeye's gun.

Roy was still reeling an hour later.

After Riza had threatened every single one of them (sans Falman) with her gun, they'd decided a congratulations was more appropriate. Then, Ed had taken to explaining what actually went down with the bond in a bit more detail.

"So you're saying the soul bond was even a thing because you two fancied each other?"

Havoc was giving Roy a migraine.

"Who the fuck uses the word fancied, Havoc." Ed scowled. He was clearly uncomfortable with all the attention—and also the fact that Havoc and Breda had once again taken to teasing Ed.

He had to admit though, Ed did make it so easy to mess with him.

Havoc grinned. "Me!"

"So, boss," Breda said, and the smirk on his face put Roy on edge. It also very clearly put Ed on edge too. "Does that mean you don't think the Chief has a stick up his ass anymore?"

Havoc snickered.

Ed, completely missing the innuendo, said, "Well, he, uh, well yeah, sometimes, but it's like a smaller stick, I guess."

Havoc roared with laughter, but Roy simply smiled, because he knew that was actually a compliment to him, in Ed's weird insulting way.

At all the laughter Ed blushed bright red. "Shut up! I've gotta like him at least a little bit to be with him!"

Roy shook his head, unable to stop himself from chuckling alongside the rest of them. Ed scowled at him in betrayal.

Roy decided to give him a break. "How about we make our way out? I believe Ed's had enough of you all."

"Actually, yes," Ed said, standing.

"Aww, boss! Please don't leave it three months again!"

Ed glared at Havoc and pointed a very aggressive finger at him. "Next time I'm leaving it three fucking years."

Roy realised he felt peace.

Lying in bed that night, Ed tucked in his side, he realised that telling the team had been a weight lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't even realised he'd wanted to tell them, really. He'd been feeling guilty, on occasion, when he caught the team talking about Ed and he couldn't contribute to the conversation—not without outright lying.

And he didn't want to do that to his team.

But now he didn't have to anymore. The team could ask him directly about Ed's wellbeing, and Roy would be able to answer.

Ed's head shifted on his chest, golden hair tickling his skin as Ed looked up at him. "What're you thinking about?"

Roy glanced at him before returning his gaze to the dark ceiling. "Tonight went…well."

Ed shifted some more, turning to lie on his front to look at Roy properly. His chin dug into Roy's chest and he smirked. "I did have a moment where I thought you were gonna chicken out, not gonna lie."

Roy looked at him again. "But I did it."

Ed's smile turned fond, and Roy felt like the luckiest man in the world. "But you did it."

He couldn't help himself as he lifted a hand and brushed Ed's loose hair from his face. Ed sighed, closing his eyes as he melted into the touch. He'd turned his face so his cheek rested on Roy's chest instead. Ed could probably hear his heartbeat.

"I did it because I love you, Ed."

Ed opened his eyes to look at him again, and the gold glimmered in the dim lighting of the moon. His lips quirked up again, and he lazily said, "Damn, kinda sounds like you're whipped."

Roy smirked, but his hand kept stroking through Ed's hair. "Turns out I'm quite the romantic."

Ed let out a little snort, and then he was wriggling up the mattress until his head was lying next to Roy's. Roy turned his head to look at him, and their noses touched.

"I love you too, bastard."

Roy would never get tired of hearing it. He knew Ed didn't like to say it; he was more of an action guy than a words guy, but he knew Roy needed to hear it sometimes. And so he said it, but only sometimes.

Roy appreciated and remembered every single time.

Ed's cheeks had turned pink and he eyes had strayed to the side, away from eye contact. With his heart now thundering between his ribs, Roy wrapped an arm around Ed and hauled him on top of him.

Ed made a small sound of surprise before he realised what Roy was trying to achieve with one arm, and spared him the sprain by moving himself.

Staring into golden eyes once again, Roy said, "You can rest your weight on me."

Ed, propping his body up with his forearms, said, "You won't be able to breathe, and I'm not in the mood to deal with your corpse."

Roy feigned a sigh. "The epitome of romance, you are."

"Asshole."

Roy was grinning now, as he always somehow did when Ed insulted him. He'd accepted a while ago now that he had issues.

He started running his fingers delicately over Ed's sides, trailing his fingertips like feathers over his skin, and Ed shivered. Ed's lower body was indeed resting on him, and he felt Ed's cock stir. It made him grin even more.

Ed squirmed as though tickled. "You know what you're doing."

Roy raised his brows in mock innocence. His fingers were now stroking down Ed's spine. "What am I doing?"

As he played with the waistband of Ed's boxers, Ed simply stared at him. Roy's right hand dipped into the boxers, brushing against Ed's asscheek.

Ed hardened further. Not that Roy was far behind. It was that easy, when it came to Ed.

"Aren't you tired, old man?" Ed asked, but his eyes had narrowed playfully.

"Not in the slightest." A small lie. But now all he could think about was Ed, and his soft lips, and his hard body, and being inside it. He wouldn't be able to sleep even if tried.

Ed grinned and leaned down, kissing him in a softer way than usual. Ed was warm, as always, and his lips were no different. Kissing Ed felt familiar by now, but still elicited a feeling of eagerness, a rush of energy that went through him as though this was new and exciting.

His hands roamed freely over Ed's body, settling on his asscheeks under his boxers. With Ed, at least, he let himself be predictable.

Ed broke the kiss only long enough to wriggle out of his boxers, and then he was kissing him again, roughly, hungrily—more his usual style.

Their tongues clashed, and Roy couldn't held the soft sound that came out of his throat. Ed was fully hard now, the length of his cock digging into Roy's lower abdomen. If Ed just shifted, just a bit, he'd get some delicious friction—

As though reading his mind, Ed did just that, rolling his hips over Roy's, and sparks of pleasure already had him panting.

With a clumsy hand he attempted to take his own boxers off, his lips reluctant to leave Ed's, but Ed pulled back, smirking, and lowered his lips to Roy's neck. And suddenly Roy's hands were unable to function as Ed sucked and bit at the sensitive skin.

He'd half pulled the boxers off, but Ed reached down and all but ripped them off him the rest of the way.

And then he was biting Roy's nipple, and Roy was hissing—and before the sparks of pain and pleasure had fully faded he'd taken Roy's cock into his mouth and Roy groaned. In relief, in agony, in pleasure.

Ed sucked him perfectly. He knew where to lick, where to fondle, and where to suck harder, all to get Roy to be desperately grasping onto his control.

His eyes were pinned on Ed, unable to look away, his hand holding his golden hair in a tight fist—which got tighter and tighter as Ed took his cock further down his throat.

Ed's lips glistened with saliva, his wet tongue running along the underside of his cock and—fuck, his brain was shutting down. All he could think about was burying himself into Ed and pounding into him until he screamed.

"Ed," he breathed weakly, a small warning perhaps.

Ed pulled back, licking his lips and smirking. He looked at Roy's cock, and gave it a couple pumps with his fist as though checking. "That's hard enough for me."

A massive understatement.

His cock was throbbing as Ed pulled back—and sat right by his cock. He nodded to the bedside table. "Come on, I ain't doing everything."

Realising what he meant, Roy scrambled to get the lube, popping open the lid and accidentally squirting way too much on his hand.

Fisting his cock made him hiss, the urge to keep pumping until he came almost unbearable, but he stopped himself. He lay back down as Ed lined himself up.

"Ed," Roy thought to say, "I know we've done this before, but maybe we should spend some time preparing you—"

His cock slid right in, and he gasped, stars dancing in his vision as he clenched and gritted his teeth trying not to come right then and there.

"A little warning—" he growled as soon as he got his breath back.

Ed, sat on his cock, was looking down at him, smirking. The little shit looked so triumphant. "No need."

Roy grabbed his hips—he wasn't sure whether it was to stop him from moving until Roy was sure he wasn't going to explode with one stroke, or a way to lift him to please get some friction.

Ed, as usual, didn't make anything easy for him. He clenched around his cock and started riding him—fast, and confident, and way too well.

Roy was aware he was gasping with every stroke, but he couldn't stop. His only consolation was that Ed seemed to lose himself to pleasure as well; he'd closed his eyes, panting loudly with every bounce.

Fuck, if they kept this up Roy wouldn't last more than a minute. And that would be embarrassing—

Every fibre of his being was tense, and he was already sticky with sweat, and ready to explode the moment he let himself go—and fuck all he wanted to do was release into Ed, because Ed was his—

Ed moaned, loudly and completely unashamed as Roy's cock brushed against his prostate. Roy's grip on his hips had loosened—he had no control here, not really. Ed was bouncing on his cock at his own pace, and Roy scrambled to keep up.

If he wanted to last, he needed some of his control back.

Sitting up, he grabbed Ed and lowered him on the mattress, so he was on top, their bodies connected the entire time. Ed blinked at him, hair like a messy halo around him, his cheeks a perfect pink. "Bastard," he breathed, slightly smirking, and in Roy's current state it was so hot his cock throbbed.

"Turn around," he said, his voice embarrassingly hoarse, but Ed did as told, twisting around slowly, so Roy didn't slip out of him. He wasn't even sure how they'd managed that.

Ed looked behind him, his upper body lying on the crumbled up duvet by the end of the bed, his ass in the air and deliciously stretched by Roy.

"Fuck," Roy breathed despite himself. He had no chance.

His arms wrapped around Ed's waist, lifting him up. Ed made a confused sound as Roy led him to sit on his lap again, but this time with his back to Roy's chest.

Ed chuckled. "Can't look at me, huh?"

"Shut up."

With his arms around Ed he began thrusting, slowly, making sure he mastered himself. His body burned with the need for release, every stroke a type of agony only Ed could bring him to. A type of agony he sought again and again and again.

He buried his face in the crook of Ed's neck, ignoring just how heavily he was breathing. Ed wasn't paying attention to Roy's breathing, however—at the deeper angle, he grit his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut.

"Don't tease," he growled, his hips pressing down against Roy's as thought wanting—needing—him deeper.

Roy managed a smirk. Not that Ed could see it. "It's called being sensual, Ed."

Ed growled in frustration. "Fuck me right, bastard."

Roy chuckled. "Patience."

That seemed to annoy Ed more. "Why do you always say that like it's a fucking inside joke with yourself, you weirdo—"

Roy couldn't help the grin. God, he was covered in sweat and his cock was throbbing and slippery inside Ed and he couldn't quite catch his breath, but he managed to say,

"Maybe it is."

Ed twisted his neck to give him a look that could make grown men cry. Roy just kissed his cheek, and then thrust, fast and deep, into him.

Ed gasped, his back arching. As he caught his breath he said, "Fuck, now we're talking."

Roy's breathless chuckle was lost as he started pounding into Ed, his arms holding him down in his lap so he could get the deepest angle.

He knew he was deep when Ed started moaning with every thrust, each cry louder and louder, his sassy remarks long gone.

Ed spread his thighs as much as he could, steadying himself against Roy's brutal thrusts. The slap of their skin was making Ed's asscheeks turn pink, so Roy held him down further, until he was so deep he could grind against him, fuck him deep—and Ed's hips squirmed, almost on their own accord as Ed was torn between chasing more and trying to get away from the agony of it. Roy knew he'd hit his prostate when Ed's back arched again, and his moan was louder, and fuck, Roy was close again, just from that.

He leaned down and bit Ed's right shoulder, his previously slicked hand fisting his cock and pumping, mercilessly, until Ed was leaning against him, stimulated in every possible way and crying out as he spurted hot cum all over Roy's hand.

Roy had no chance of holding on, so he let go, his orgasm ripping through him so hard his vision went black, his breathing heavy and erratic as he came in Ed.

His heart was in his throat as he half collapsed on Ed, leaning against his back and resting his forehead on his shoulder. He focused on his breathing, his arms still loosely wrapped around Ed's torso.

Ed leaned back against him, his thighs shaking, his eyes glazed over. "Fair warning," he croaked weakly. "It won't be that good when I do it."

Roy, somehow, found the energy to laugh at that. "My ego's just reached Creta."

He got a half-assed slap on his forearm. "Asshole. You know you're good."

Roy hummed, pecking the join between Ed's shoulder and neck. "Verbal confirmation is always appreciated."

Ed grunted. "Well you definitely get verbal confirmation."

Roy chuckled again at that, his arms squeezing Ed fondly. His Ed. Ed was his. Always his.

With whatever strength he had left he lowered them both to the bed, mindful not to get the sheets dirty as much as possible. Ed curled up around him immediately, and Roy had to squirm slightly to reach the tissues to wipe his hand.

He held Ed tightly, stroking his hair with his free hand, making sure to scratch his scalp the way he liked.

Perhaps it was the post-orgasmic calmness, or the sleep that was trying to claim him, but he confessed, "I hope you stay with me for a long time, Ed."

Ed sighed, if possible pulling him even closer to him. "You ain't getting rid of me, bastard," he mumbled sleepily, "We'll figure things out together."

Roy smiled. They'd figure things out together.

He liked the sound of that.